Audi F1 appoint McNish as Racing Director from Miami GP

LONDON, April 24 : Triple Le Mans 24 Hours winner and former grand prix racer Allan McNish has been appointed Racing Director of the Audi Formula One team, they announced on Friday.

The Scot will be responsible for coordinating all trackside operations from next week's Miami Grand Prix, the team said in a statement, and reports directly to principal Mattia Binotto.

McNish has been part of the Audi F1 project from the start and was also previously principal of the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E team.

He fills a vacancy left by Jonathan Wheatley, whose departure was announced last month.

"Allan brings an exceptional combination of racing experience, technical understanding and leadership to this role," said Binotto.

"He has been a central part of the motorsport structure of Audi for many years and, in his roles within Audi Revolut F1 Team since its start, has played a key role in shaping our preparation for Formula One, not least with his work around technical partnerships."

McNish won Le Mans in 1998 with Porsche and in 2008 and 2013 with Audi. He raced in Formula One with Toyota in 2002.

“The project we are building is ambitious, and my focus will be on ensuring that all aspects of our race operations are delivering at their most competitive level and continuously improving," he said.

"Together with our Driver Development Programme, to which I remain fully committed, my focus will be on implementing the building blocks for our success, under the direction of Mattia and the Board of Directors.”

Audi took over the Swiss-based Sauber team and this season is the carmaker's first under their own brand with their own engine.

They are eighth of the 11 teams after three races and have said they want to be in a position to fight for